Tonsil Cancer

Signs and Symptoms of Tonsil Cancer

The symptoms of tonsil cancer, like other oropharynx cancers, depend on where the tumor is and how big it is. You may see or feel a growth in your mouth on one of the tonsils, or your doctor will see one tonsil bigger than the other (when they were the same size in the past). However, it is not uncommon for the first symptom of a cancer in the tonsils to be a lump in the neck. In any case, oropharynx cancer can present with a whole host of different symptoms, including5, Koivunen P, Rantala N, Hyrynkangas K, Jokinen K, Alho OP. The impact of patient and professional diagnostic delays on survival in pharyngeal cancer. Cancer. Dec 1 2001;92(11):2885-2891.6, Roistacher SL, Tanenbaum D. Myofascial pain associated with oropharyngeal cancer. Oral surgery, oral medicine, and oral pathology. May 1986;61(5):459-462.7 Rogers SN, Vedpathak SV, Lowe D. Reasons for delayed presentation in oral and oropharyngeal cancer: the patients perspective. The British journal of oral & maxillofacial surgery. Jul 2011;49(5):349-353.:

Pain or difficulty with swallowing in the throat: This can occur because a tumor is in the way of swallowing, and so it becomes difficult or painful to swallow. Also, there can be ulceration and bleeding as the tumor grows, causing pain.

A lump in the neck: This will be a symptom of oropharyngeal cancer if it has spread to lymph nodes in the neck. This can be the first symptom that brings a patient to the doctor. If you have a neck mass, and your doctor is concerned that it represents cancer spread from somewhere else, one of the first places he or she will look is your oropharynx.

Ear pain (particularly on one side, with no other ear problems): Ear pain, also known as otalgia, happens because the nerves of the throat reach the brain through the same pathway as one of the nerves in the ear. Therefore, your brain might interpret a pain in the throat as coming from the ear. This is called referred pain. Consequently, unexplained ear pain that doesn’t go away should be evaluated by a specialist. It is important to understand that most causes of ear pain are due to simple problems such as middle ear infection or dysfucntion of the Eustachian tube. TMJ pain due to a problem in the joint located in front of the ear may also present as otalgia.

Other symptoms might include:

Difficulty opening your mouth widely (trismus)

Feeling a lump in the throat

Bleeding from the mouth

A change in the way you speak

Weight loss

But don’t jump to any conclusions. You could have one or more of these symptoms but NOT have oropharyngeal cancer. There are several non-cancerous causes of the same symptoms. That’s why you need to see a specialist.